| Overview : The Government of Botswana in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are implementing a project called ‘Mainstreaming Sustainable Land Management in Rangeland Areas of Ngamiland District Landscapes for Improved Livelihoods’ (SLM Ngamiland).The project aims to put in place systems and capacities for promoting and integrating improved range management principles within Ngamiland’s rangelands and facilitate removal of barriers to small scale non-beef, livestock product-based enterprises and improved access to markets for Ngamiland beef. Part of this mandate includes diversification of livelihood options amongst local communities especially as found in the project’s pilot areas. Lake Ngami and the rangelands are some of the project’s pilot areas. The Lake Ngami Management Plan recommended tourism facilities in the form of campsites in selected areas. In order to implement such a recommendation, the Lake Ngami Conservation Trust, formed by six villages surrounding the lake, has been granted usufruct rights over five (5) fishing and two (2) mobile safari campsites as well as a boat station. When fully developed and operational, the campsites and boat station will generate significant income for the Trust and its beneficiaries. The Lake Ngami Conservation Trust (LNCT) is a Community Based Organization (CBO) that has been granted exclusive user rights to some specific sites in Lake Ngami by Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism (MEWT) and Ministry of Lands and Housing (MoL). The area is home to a diversity of bird species, fish fauna and flora. The LNCT with the assistance of UNDP/GEF SLM Ngamiland Project are desirous of undertaking a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment of five (5) fishing camps, One (1) Boat Station and two (2) Mobile safari campsites as depicted in Figure 1 below. Each of the campsites is envisaged to have an ablution block comprising of a toilet and a shower. The total number shall be fifteen toilets and shower ablutions (two ablution blocks per campsite and one block for the boat station). Conservancy Tanks shall be used in the collection of both black and grey water, which shall be emptied at agreed/determined intervals. Each campsite shall have a kitchenette, a water standpipe, a fire place, a wash-up area and a barbecue area. As such, UNDP seeks to engage services of a consultancy firm to develop an Environment Impact Assessment as a prerequisite for the LNCT to develop its campsites. |
